Paper-dispensing cabinet



Patented June 10, 1924.

UNITED STATES CARL R. HELLSTROM, or WASHINGTON, nrsrnro r or COLUMBIA.

PAPER-DISPENSING CABINET.

Application filed January 28, 1924. Serial No. 689,073. 2

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, CARL R. HELLSTROM,

a citizen of the United States, residing at lVashington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Paper-Dispensing Cabinets, of which the following is a. specification.

The invention relates to cabinets for dispensing interfolded paper, such as paper towels and toilet paper which are commonly provided in packets in this form, and has as anobject the provision of such a cabinet which will act Without springs or without any pivotally acting machanism for the purpose of feeding the paper to the front.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a cabinet of the nature referred to having no parts acting upon the paper which can get out of order.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a cabinet which will serve its purpose efi'ectively through a period of years.

and which will be cheap to manufacture.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying draw ings, in which Fig. 1 is a central vertical section through a the cabinet with the position of a portion of the cabinet while open shown in dotted lines.

.Fig. 2 is a detail vertical section on line 2, 2 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are diagrammatic views showing the effect of a misplacement of the feeding means.

As shown in the drawings, the cabinet comprises a casing 10 in the form of a rectangular box having a rear closure 11 which is adapted to be secured to a wall or other support 12, as by means of screws 13. The casing 10 is shown as pivotally attached to the closure 11 by means of ahinge 14 at the lower rear corner, and may be retained in its closed position as by means of'a lock 15, preferably key-actuated, which look is shown diagrammatically, and which may be of any usual or preferred nature.

Interfolded sheets of paper are shown at 16, the leading edge 17 of the pack being projected through the slot 18 in the front of the cabinet. Heretofore in cabinets of this nature it has been the custom to provide some sort of spring arrangement upon the interior of the cabinet to feed the sheets to the front, so that the leading sheet would be always pressed against the inside of the front of the casing. To avoid the possibility of trouble, which is always present when springs are utilized, the present invention provides a cylindrical weight 19, acting by gravity, to press the sheets to the front. The weight is shown as acting against the usual card board backing 20 with which the pack of paper is supplied as delivered to the user. To cause the weight 19 to act against the rear of the pack the interior of the casing 10 is shown as provided with guideways in the form of flanges" 21, 22, shown as carried by the interior of the side walls of the easing.

A desirable method of providing the flanges 21, 22, is that shown, wherein the same are struck from the material of the side walls of the casing and bentinwardly, thus producing slots 23. 24 in the said side walls. These slots are of service in enabling the user to observe the amount of paper that is present within the casing without opening the same. A weight 19 is desirably formed of a length of stock iron or steel rod cut to the proper dimensions.

The angle of the ways 21 to the horizontal and the relative position thereof to the height of the cabinet and to the slot 18 which is desirably placed at about the center of the height of the cabinet, is found to be rather critical. It is found as a result of extensive experimentation that the placing and angle shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing is substantially that necessary for best results with an iron or steel rod of the relative size illustrated. The preferred angle is that shown, or an angle of 48 to horizontal, and the ways 21, 22 are preferably, placed in such a position that their upper ends are slightly above a horizontal plane through the upper edge of the slot 18, and their lower ends are in such a position that the weight 1.9 wh enthe cabinet is empty will press against the front of the/casing at a line substantially one-half the distance from the bottom of the casing to the bottom of the slot 18. Since the function of the weight 19 is to furnish propolling force to the paper to press the same to the front of the casing, it is obviousthat a roller of greater specific gravity than that mentioned and of the relative size illustrated, would perform the function with a somewhat less pitch of the ways. Moreover, that a steel roller of greater size, and therefore of greater weight, would also perform the function with less pitch, whereas a lighter roller would require a somewhat greater pitch than that shown. In all instances, however, the lacementof the ways should be substantial y that shown, in other words, with the lower end thereof below the level of the slot 18 and with the upper end thereof extending to a point above.

The actual angle which will be operative, the size and weight of the roller taken into consideratiomwill be referred to hereafter as the critical angle, it being understood that the word critical refers to a moderate range within which the device will function satisfactorily.

It is found that if the ways be placed too high, as for instance asshown in Fig. 3, the sheets of the pack when partially used, will occu i the osition dia ramn'iaticall 7 shown in said figure 3, in which position the end of the sheet drawn from one direction will not be projected from the slot 18 when the preceding sheet is withdrawn.

If the ways are placed too low, as shown in Fig. 4, the partially used pack will occupy the position shown in such figure, in which case the end of a sheet drawn from the other direction willnot be projected from the slot 18. Such'failure to act is fatal to the use of the cabinet, since failure to have the edge of the sheet drawn through the slot makes the remainder of the pack inaccessible until the 7 condition is rectified.

By the angle and placing of the ways shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the sheets will be pressed against the front of the cabinet, so that the central portion of the pack will be at all times pressed against both edges of the slot 18, and every sheet from the first of the pack to the last ones thereof will be fed one sheet at a time through the slot 18.

When: it is desired to add new paper to the cabinet, the lock 15 may be actuated and the casing 10 maybe dropped to the dotted line'position of Fig. 1 wherein the cylinder 18 will lie against the remaining sheets in the cabinet or against the front thereof. The weight may then be freely lifted out, the card-board 2O removed, the first edge of the new-pack interleaved with the back sheet of the remainder of the pack in the'cabinet, when the weight may be placed upon the new packet in such a position as to lie upon the ways 21, 22, when the cabinet is swung to its closed position. The closing of the cabinet will then place the device in operative position.

Minor changes may be made in the physical embodiment of the invention without departing" from the spirit thereof.

I claim:

1. A paper dispensingrabinet compris ing, in combination, a casing having a slot in the front thereof through which an end of an interfolded sheet of paper may extend, downwardly and forwardly inclined ways within said casing extending from a line in a plane below said slot to a line in a plane above said slot at substantially the critical angle for the weight used, a gravity actuated weight guided by said ways and adapted to press paper against the margins of said slot with substantial uniformity.

2. A paper dispensing cabinet cmnprising, in combination, a casing having a slot in the front thereof spaced from the ends thereof, a way within said casing sloping upwardly and backwardly, at an angle'of substantially 48 to the horizontal from a point below the level of said slot to a point above the same, a sliding weight traveling in said way and adapted to press paper against the margins of said slot with substantial uniformity throughout the range of variation of paper contained in the easing from substantially full to the empty condition.

3. A paper dispensing cabinet comprising, in combination, a casing having a slot in its front spaced from the ends thereof. downwardly and forwardly inclined ways carried by the interior of the side walls of the casing and extending from a line below the plane of the lower margin of the slot to a line not lower than the plane of the upper margin of the slot at substantially the critical angle for the weight used, a gravity actuated weight slidably carried by said ways and adapted to feed paper with substantial uniformity against said slot throughout the range of content of the casing.

4. A paper dispensing cabinet comprising, in combination, a casing having a slot in its front at substantially the central portion of the height thereof, inwardly projecting flanges carried by the side walls of the casing sloping from a line in a horizontal plane substantially midway between the bottom of the casing and the bottom of said slot to a line in a horizontal plane above the upper margin of said slot and at an angle of substantially 48 to the horizontal, a cylindrical weight supported by its ends upon said ways and adapted to freely roll thereon by gravity, said weight adapted to press interfolded sheets of paper. with substantial uniformity against the margins of said slot.

CARL R. HELLS'IROM. 

